Yesterday we drove down to San Antonio for the day. Adele signed up for a Ball canning party and as hostess she received a ton of swag (and as guests so did we)! It was a lot of work but so much fun! And really nice pool weather. Casey and Kevin stayed outside with Brady and Emma swimming while Adele, Meredith, Jen, and I (all of us canning newbies) got to work canning (or as Kevin likes to call it “jarring”). The prep work definitely took the longest but we ended up each taking home (2) different kinds of salsa, (2) peach cranberry pepper chutneys (which we sampled with chips before we left and is really good but might need a little extra heat if I made it for Casey and I), cherry almond (read – Amaretto) jams, and (2) pickled jalapeno carrots. Everything is ready to eat now, except the carrots so I’m thinking there may be some new meals created from what we made! I ended up receiving the door prize of a canning cookbook by being the first to burn myself (later Adele burned her eyes :(. I chopped, devined, and seeded 12 jalapenos and 2 serranos without gloves. And still today, anytime my hands get wet they tingle for at least 20 minutes. And these were mild (or so the farmer’s market said) jalapenos. Although they did say use gloves, which we didn’t have. They’ll be a must for next time though (which with the great success we had yesterday and all the extra materials there still were, I can’t imagine there won’t be a next time).
Before we drove back to Austin everyone hopped in the pool for a bit to enjoy the day! Brady ran out of swimmies so we just put a regular diaper on that weighed about 10 pounds alone when we pulled her out! She is such a fish and loves the water. If we ever/or when we ever get a pool, a fence will be a must. This girl tried to just walk straight into the water and if she ever missed a step of got water on her face/in her nose/mouth she was completely fine and didn’t freak out at all. I”m thinking we need to work on teaching her to swim now rather than later. We need to make sure she keeps this fearless attitude (although in a safe controlled environment).
Here’s a video of Brady’s first swim in a big pool:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfiZDgr9YSo
Super cute!
Brady may be like her mama was in water “a little fish.”
And “yes” you will definitely need a fence to keep her out
for her safety.
Sounds like the canning party was a big success and am looking forward to something yummy when we come down next time.
Love,
Nana/Mom
Love the canning party!! I can’t tell you how many times I have cut jalapeños with awkward sandwich bags on my hands because I didn’t have any gloves. You only ever do it bare handed once! LOL.
Love your little swimmer and her kicking! And of course, if ever you get a pool, build a tall fence. Ever read Freakonomics? More kids die from drowning in their back yard pool than any other cause. How’s that for getting you all excited for a pool. I’m just saying. Precautions.
One day, it might turn into summer here in Oregon. Until then I will vicariously live through your swimming and canning parties!
definitely agree with getting her swimming now when she has the fearless attitude b/c that can change overnight and then it’s really hard (what we’re going through with James right now) but you have the advantage now of living where it’s warm year-round and she wont have reduced exposure for 6 months at a time to being able to swim (that’s what happened we think with James and why he’s now afraid… it was just too long between summers and getting in the pool)
better to teach her how to swim young, too, so that she is a stronger swimmer throughout her life. i think i read somewhere that kids that learn younger are stronger more confident swimmers, more capable of saving themselves and others in the case of an incident occurring. can’t wait to see more videos!